Everything that stood out from Bill O'Brien as Red Bandanna Week begins
The Eagles might be 1-8, but it’s Red Bandanna Week.
It’s never just another week.
Bill O’Brien touched on the importance of this week, the budding SMU rivalry, the team’s mindset and some other stuff. Here’s what stood out:
On the starting QB this week and rest of the season
“For this game, yeah (it’s Grayson James). He competes. He’s doing a good job. He’s fighting and he’s doing a good job, so yeah, he’ll start against SMU…he’s been around a long time. He started out at a different school, he transferred here. He’s a very improved player from the time he’s been here and he brings a lot of energy to the huddle. He’s a great competitor and an even better person.”
On how high school recruits perform in the playoffs playing a factor in recruiting
“I look at the whole picture, but…I will say this, the guys that come from winning high school programs, that’s a big deal. Now, look, it doesn’t mean that every guy you’re going to recruit has to come from a winning high school program, but I think it really helps. They’re coming from a place that has won a lot of football games. You’re trying to bring a winning attitude into this program and sometimes, those guys that come from winning high school programs, they know what it’s like to play in the big games in high school, you know? Playing at Gillette in the (MIAA) Super Bowl, something like that. So, yeah, I think winning high school programs is a factor, no doubt.”
On a message to the fans that have been ‘down’ during the losing season
“I’m glad you’re (Mike Gualtieri) down, I’m not down. Nobody’s down. We’re fighting. We’re competing. It’s the second year of this program. You always come in here with these down questions. You show up like, once a month or something like that, you come in here with these down questions. I’m not down. I don’t know what year you graduated from BC, but this is a program that we’re building. Nobody’s down. We’re positive, we’re going to show up and play our asses off against SMU. You can go out there in your dark-clouded world or whatever it is and do what you want to do. We’re not down. The sun is up and we’re fighting. That’s my message to the fans.”
On working on the run game in practice this week
“Yeah, I mean, the run game was terrible last week against Notre Dame. We’re working hard on it and hopefully it’s better.”
On Red Bandanna Week
“Red Bandanna Week is huge. What Welles Crowther meant to this university and what he did, he’s a great example of what BC is all about. So, we understand very much so what the Red Bandanna Game is all about. Last year was my first experience in the Red Bandanna Game and it went pretty well. The kids will understand it. We talked about it this morning, we’ll talk about it again on Thursday. But, we owe a lot to Welles Crowther and what he meant to this school, no doubt.”
